Maureen Foulkes-Hajdu
Executive Chairman
Maureen Foulkes(-Hajdu) worked in the Marketing Department of her Father’s very successful scientific instrument manufacturing company (MSE Centrifuges Ltd.) for five years before leaving to change her career path to academia in Montreal, Canada. Initially, she worked for the Dean of Students at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University), and then as Personal Assistant to the Principal of the first English-speaking community college in Quebec, using her fluent French. On returning to the U.K. she worked briefly in the French Department at U.C.L. before landing the job of Registrar of the London Sloan Fellowship Programme at the London Business School (when the Principal was Prof. Sir James Ball, later to become a longstanding Trustee of the Foulkes Foundation). She was a founding Trustee of the Foulkes Foundation when her Father set it up in 1972, and also took on the role of Registrar in 1981; she became Chairman of the Foundation on her Father’s death in 1993. She is dedicated to preserving and enhancing her late Father’s legacy, and is fiercely protective of all the wonderful Fellows the Foundation has had the privilege of supporting over the years. Many of them have made a significant contribution in the fields of science and medicine to the benefit of mankind, and Ernest would certainly have been very proud of the success of his uniquely far-sighted vision.
Georgina Benton
Registrar & Granddaughter of the Founder
Georgina followed her BSc in Geography at UCL with a Masters in International Business at the Grenoble Graduate Business School. On returning to London, she worked for the French Team at HSBC Investment Bank and for the Economic Section of the French Embassy, before embarking on a rewarding career in the conference industry. Georgina developed, project managed and hosted a number of overseas conferences over several years, after which she was asked to manage several event portfolios. She then set up from scratch a new business unit for a large conference company, successfully developing it into a reputed and profitable market brand. More recently, Georgina has been enjoying motherhood whilst using her commercial acumen and operational expertise to support charities. Georgina is a keen saxophonist and currently plays in the BBC Elstree Concert Band of which she is also the General Manager, organising all the concerts and overseeing the management of the 45-piece group. She is also a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers.
Sir Walter Bodmer
Oxford University
Walter Bodmer studied mathematics at Cambridge University where, having become fascinated with genetics through courses taught by R A Fisher as part of the final year mathematics programme, he did his PhD with Fisher in population genetics. He then went as a Post Doctoral fellow in 1961 to work with Joshua Lederberg at Stanford University and to learn molecular biology. While there, eventually as a member of the Faculty for eight years, he initiated the work with his wife, Julia Bodmer, and with Rose Payne, which contributed to the discovery of the HLA system, and also his long standing involvement with somatic cell genetics. In 1970 Walter Bodmer returned to the UK to take up the chair of genetics at Oxford. In 1979 he left Oxford to become Director of Research at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories in London and was appointed the first Director-General of the Fund in 1991. On retirement from the ICRF in 1996, he returned to Oxford University as Principal of Hertford college until 2005, and as head of the ICRF, now CRUK, Cancer and Immunogenetics laboratory at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular medicine where he continues his research. Walter Bodmer was one of the first to suggest the idea of the Human Genome Project and was first a Vice- President, and then the second President of HUGO. He has made major contributions to human population genetics, somatic cell genetics, the development of the HLA system and more recently to cancer genetics, especially as applied to colorectal cancer. Walter Bodmer was elected FRS in 1974, Knighted in 1986 for his contributions to science, is a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of sciences and is the recipient of more than 30 honorary degrees and memberships and fellowships of scientific and medical societies.
Simon T. Ellen
Simon Ellen (Hon)FRCP has enjoyed a lengthy career in Financial Services. After a period of 20 years in senior roles at S G Warburg in the 1980s and 1990s, he became the Investment Director of United Assurance Co Ltd. Subsequently he assumed the position of Chair of a succession of insurance related businesses owned by Private Equity investors. In parallel he was Chair of the Investment Management businesses of Thomas Miller Ltd. during a period of growth of that business and, subsequently, Senior Independent Director of the parent company. He spent fifteen years as a Non-Executive director of two NHS Trust hospitals and was for many years an external advisor on investments to the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Physicians. His current charitable interests include the Chairmanship of a Tennis Charity dedicated to the promotion of young, potentially elite, tennis players.
Nick Hajdu
Grandson of the Founder
Nick began his career at the News International group working in advertising, syndication and digital strategy for the Times Education & Higher Education Supplements, The Times, Sunday Times and Sun newspapers. Following this he entered the world of digital search marketing as Head of European Account Management at Espotting Media. As the world of online video took off with the rise of platforms such as YouTube, Nick started his own business, a digital content agency called Adjust Your Set that created online video content for brands including M&S, British Airways and HSBC. Following the successful sale of this business Nick has turned his head to the challenge of building those organisations that seek to do good in the world. He has advised and worked with numerous non-profits and was Strategic Advisor to the European arm of the B Corp movement (that helps businesses to be a force for good through a globally renowned certification scheme). Nick is currently the Marketing Director at sustainability firm Net Zero Now, a company that helps SMEs in all sectors measure and reduce their carbon emissions. Nick brings the entrepreneurial spirit of his Grandfather to everything he does, has a keen eye for growth opportunities and an inherent drive to create a better world.
Andrew Hall
Secretary, Sarasin & Partners
Andrew Hall worked as both a banker and an investment manager for Barclays Bank, before spending ten years with Royal Trust Co. of Canada. After a period as Managing Director of a new company in the Isle of Man he returned as associate director of Royal Trust in London. In 1980 he moved to Aitken Hume Ltd. as investment director. He joined Sarasin Investment Management in 1985 as a director with responsibility for expanding investment services, and was appointed Managing Director in 1989. In March 2002 he was appointed Executive Deputy Chairman and is now partner.
Professor Muzlifah Haniffa
Newcastle University & Wellcome Sanger Institute
Muzlifah graduated from medical school in Cardiff, trained as a junior doctor in Cambridge and received her dermatology specialist training in Newcastle. She is currently Professor of Dermatology and Immunology at Newcastle University and Associate Faculty, Cellular Genetics, Wellcome Sanger Institute. In 2018 she was awarded the European Federation of Immunological Societies ACTERIA Prize in Immunology and Allergology. Muzlifah is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a Wellcome Senior Clinical Research Fellow and recipient of the 2019 Foulkes Foundation Academy of Medical Sciences Medal. She is a leading member of the Human Cell Atlas initiative and pioneered the application of single cell genomics to decode the developing human immune system, and the human skin in health and disease.
Professor Sir Alex Markham
University of Leeds & 1980 Foulkes Fellow
Alex Markham completed a Chemistry PhD at the University of Birmingham in 1974 and has undertaken postdoctoral work in Japan, London, Cambridge (UK) and Boston (USA). He entered the commercial sector and had some 15 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries in both the UK and the USA, with GD Searle and then ICI Pharmaceuticals (now Astra Zeneca). His commercial experience includes both drug development (Gefitinib) and the worldwide introduction of DNA Fingerprinting for forensic and medico-legal applications. This was recognised by the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement in 1990. He has made contributions to medical science in various fields. On the basis of his expertise in nucleic acid chemistry, he developed research programmes in medicinal chemistry then molecular biology from the mid ‘70s and was one of the pioneers of molecular genetics research in the UK in the 1980s. For the last 17 years in Leeds, his group has studied autosomal recessive Mendelian disorders in the highly inbred, immigrant communities of West Yorkshire, leading to an understanding of the causes of a variety of inherited neuro-developmental and malignant diseases. He qualified clinically in 1985, training at London and Oxford, and is accredited in pathology and internal medicine. He is the Professor of Medicine in the University of Leeds and directed the Molecular Medicine Institute at St James’s University Hospital. He has undertaken a range of administrative duties at national and international level, including the chairmanship/membership of numerous committees for the Medical Research Council, the Department of Health and the Wellcome Trust, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the Deutsche Krebshilfe, the Singapore Government Agency for Science Technology and Research (A-STAR), the Li Ka Shing Institute of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the American Association for Cancer Research. A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Board Director of the International Union against Cancer (UICC), he was, until recently, chairman of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). He continues to chair the NCRI Informatics Initiative and the National Cancer Intelligence Network. He has been a founder member of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) Board and the National Institute of Health Research Advisory Board. He remains a member of the Government’s Cancer Reform Strategy (2007) Advisory Board, and chaired its Clinical Outcomes Group. Alex was Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK for 4 years from 2003-2007. He then returned to academic work at Leeds University but continues as Senior Medical Advisor to CR-UK. He serves on the Department of Health Ministerial/Industry Strategy Group and is Chairman of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR), Translational Medicine Board. He is also the Department of Health Senior Responsible Owner and Board Chairman of the ‘Research Capability Programme’ in NHS “Connecting for Health” and Chairman of the Arthritis Research Campaign Scientific Strategy Committee. He was knighted for ‘Services to Medicine and to Healthcare’ in the Queen’s 2008 New Year Honours List.
Professor Colin Self
University of Newcastle upon Tyne & 1977 Foulkes Fellow
Professor Self’s career started with a Chemistry degree followed by a PhD in Metabolic Biochemistry. He carried out research in Immunology in the USA and in Germany and wrote a book on Immunology. He then took a medical degree at Cambridge University during which his research led to one of the first successful Cambridge biotechnology companies – IQ(Bio) Ltd. After hospital appointments in Cambridge he continued his clinical research at Hammersmith Hospital before being appointed to the Chair in Clinical Biochemistry at Newcastle University and heading the joint University-NHS Department. He remains very active in research in areas such as the development of next generation high performance diagnostic systems and, in therapeutics, the development of technology that allows antibodies to be made light dependent such that they are active only in those regions where they are required in the body.